The State of STEMI Care Across NSW: A Comparison of Rural, Regional, and Metropolitan Centres

At a global level, regional variation in the management of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is influenced by patient demographics and geography. Rural patients with STEMI are disadvantaged in reaching timely care owing to distance and limited ambulance and healthcare resources. Optimising models of STEMI care is key to overcoming the excess rural vs metropolitan cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In this descriptive study, we compare patient characteristics and STEMI management in three Local Health Districts (LHDs) across NSW: a rural LHD (Western NSW [WNSWLHD]), a regional LHD (Hunter New England), and a metropolitan site (Sydney LHD).

Data were collected from file audits conducted from 2019 to 2020 in a rural LHD with a single rural 24/7 cardiac catheter laboratory (WNSWLHD), a regional LHD with a part-time rural cardiac catheter laboratory, and a large regional 24/7 cardiac centre (Hunter New England LHD), and a metropolitan site (Sydney LHD), with two 24/7 cardiac centres. Patients with STEMI presenting in the three geographic regions were compared on demographics, differences in presentation, time to reperfusion treatment, time to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) centre, distances travelled, proportion of angiograms within 24 hours, and in-hospital mortality.

During 2020, there were 675 recorded STEMI across the three regions. The rural site in WNSWLHD had the highest rate of STEMI per capita, with patients more likely to identify as Indigenous, less likely to call an ambulance, and more likely to present to a non-PCI hospital and to receive thrombolysis. Only 14% of these rural patients received primary PCI (PPCI), with patients presenting a median of 153 km from the PCI centre, vs 69% PPCI in the regional and 89% in metropolitan LHD. Thrombolysis was the main reperfusion treatment in WNSWLHD (76%), and the proportion of patients receiving no treatment was the same in all LHDs at 10%. The percentage of patients receiving angiography within 24 hours in the rural site was 84%. There was no substantial difference in in-hospital mortality among the three LHDs.

We document large differences in the demographic profiles, use of ambulance, and access to PPCI in patients with STEMI across the three NSW centres. Current NSW health and ambulance protocols in a large, sparsely populated rural NSW LHD were able to deliver thrombolysis at the point of contact and facilitate "hot" transfer of patients with STEMI to a PCI centre. Long distances and transfer times mean that PPCI is a limited option in rural NSW, with scope for further improvement in models of care.